A Quick Peek into the Future

I started FORKaiA, a startup accelerator, because I believe in full-throttle Artificial Intelligence (AI). We can take any concept and move from idea to commercialised product incredibly quickly using AI, machine learning, neural nets, and big-data algorithms.

I believe that in the future there aren’t necessarily going to be businesses. There’s just going to be A-to-B platforms that allow us to undertake work and get done what we need to get done. Intelligent software and dashboards will keep track of progress in a way that hundreds of employees used to do. Old school businesses that people worked in for 20 years, where they hoped to get a raise, and hoped that the company was going to be around forever – those days are gone.

AI isn’t intended to be transformative in the sense that 50% of the population loses their job. It’s intended to be transformative in that it gives every person the power to access the full capabilities of their brains and their passions.

AI driven algorithms will help people find what they’re best at doing, so they don’t have to go through a lifelong search for meaning. My concept of AI is that it will ultimately free up time for people to do the things they love and enable them to make money at the same time. The gig and shareable economy is a huge indicator of the future of work.

I don’t believe in employees either. I believe in freelancing ecosystems where work gets done and credit gets shared through a combination of pay and equity arrangements. That’s exactly what FORKaiA’s ‘side hustle’ app is appealing to; everyone has the power to become their own economic entity.

AI isn’t intended to be transformative in the sense that 50% of the population loses their job. It’s intended to be transformative in that it gives every person the power to access the full capabilities of their brains and their passions. If an Uber driver can earn themselves money when they’re in the mood to drive, then data scientists and engineers, no matter where they are in the world, should be able to do the same.

The Global AI ecosystem of the future will be a very wide network. It will be open source with shared tools and knowledge. It’s a community of like-minded people who want to find secrets or work on solutions that will propel human beings forward. The future of AI doesn’t isolate people; it integrates them.

Five thousand programmers have bought into our ecosystem because they understand that no one person can do these things themselves. The same is true for all types of artists. I see a perfectly even playing field emerging that makes all of us equal as creative agents. With the tools we have available, any kid with an imagination should be able to win an Oscar.

Connections will be made. Work will be undertaken across the globe. The world is going to get even closer. People will work from their phones, using hyperloops to get to places with incredible speed no matter where they live. We’ll have to relearn teamwork in a different way, how to be social with people we’ve never met, how to be funny, how to be likeable.

The things we treasure are going to be based around the human experience. A piece of technology, for everything from cars to food, will be switched on – let me enjoy this experience – and switched off again; ownership is not required.

In an AI-driven world, humanity becomes more important, not less, and it sure is going to be fun.